I think that these things have been brought up on other threads, but here is my two cents worth concerning things we mailed and the feedback we now have from our son. Now, granted, our son does not like a lot of fanfare, but during Plebe summer, the one thing you do NOT want to do is to draw unwanted attention to your Plebe.
1. We had everyone who attended his graduation party write a postcard to him. We mailed several a week and he really looked forward to these. Encourage friends and family to send greetings. Sometimes you do have to go out of your way to ask someone to send a card. I did make up some printed off "letters home" that he could simply check boxes or write short answers to. We addressed the envelopes and put a stamp on them and then all he had to do was fill them out and return them. I found these online. I then started making my own. I had fun things like: Today the most exciting thing I did was _______. Check one of the answers below: I look forward to seeing my parents for PPW because:
_they have my money __I forgot what they look like __They can see how I square my corners ____all of the above.
My son loved these letters and I got them back in pretty good time. The more outrageous I made the answers, the more he felt free to add. What a hoot!
2. Do not put "cute" stickers on envelopes or packages. I did not send "musical" or "talking" cards to my Plebe during the summer, but I know others who did. You know your DS or DD. My son is still mortified if I send this kind of card to him and told me he won't open it until he is alone in his room.
3. Send them what they ask for in their care packages, not what you think they need. The Academy apparently loads them up with daily things like Tylenol, personal care items, etc. So, when I sent this, it just took up more space. However, things he asked for were blister pads, stain sticks, Gatorade individual drink packets, high energy bars, and peanut butter snacks. The only candy we sent him were Starbursts. The consensus seems to be that they don't want them to have a lot of candy. So, I saved the candy for after Plebe summer. Home baked goodies are always in high demand and get shared and shared.....!
4. This is only for AFTER Plebe summer!! I now only send his care packages to the Naval Academy Express Office. They have a different address and I have better success with this than his PO box. Several packages I sent took over a month to arrive when I went that route, versus Fed Ex which takes about 3 days. During Plebe summer you have to send everything to their Plebe summer address which has their company etc. Later on, in the Academic Year, I started using the express office for packages only.`
5. When they have their 3 phone calls during Plebe summer, have a notebook by the phone. Believe me, you will drop everything to wait for this call. Let them talk. Resist the urge to talk for them and instead, once my son started talking, I started writing. It was amazing what the relatives wanted to know once I hung up. This way I could go back and my husband and I had an idea of what all he had actually said versus what we thought we had heard.
6. And, I have written this before, but always be positive no matter what. They will need you to be strong for them and will try lots of ways to get you to buy into their distress, pain, homesickness, and doubt. Just keep saying, get through this summer. Then when they do, tell them, get through first semester. Then when they do, tell them to just get through second semester. By then, usually they are at a good place and looking forward to their summer assignments and Plebe year is a thing of the past!